sammydee

Congratulations to Bullit on 800!

Hee hee - I'm sure it does, especially on I-5. I figured 50 was a good overall progress guess, if any caches that got grabbed along the way were a ways off the freeway. If they're all close than I'm sure your estimate's right.

OK, so that's 1800 miles round-trip from San Jose to Mission 9, according to Yahoo Maps. Just doing the math...to do this in 3 days means: 12 hours daily driving @ 50 miles per hour 6 hours daily sleeping / waking up / eating / filling up car / etc. 6 hours daily caching Yeehaw.

It sounds like a lot of fun. It's hard to tell now whether I could make it, but would like to try. I'll start lobbying. :-) One question, though. All I know about "Project APE" is what I read here: http://www.wi-geocaching.com/archives/july2002.html So your ultimate destination is Tunnel of Light in central Washington?

FYI from http://www.parkhere.org/channel/0,4770,chi...3D12761,00.html "NOTE: As of 11/ 15/ 04 the Canada Del Oro section of Calero Park will be closed until Spring 2005. This includes Chisnantuck Peak trail, Bald Peaks Trail, Serpentine Loop Trail, and Canada Del Oro Trail. This scheduled closure is part of a negative declaration document agreement supporting the recent trail work and revegetation at Canada Del Oro."

Well, I don't know that it's in anyone's best interest to push it that much. The County Park folks aren't exactly pro-caching. For my little part I'm trying to make sure that they know as much as possible about positive aspects of caching (such as by making them aware of your excellent CITO at the Workshop), and working with my local park community group (Friends of Santa Teresa) to make sure that they see caching and cachers as a positive thing. I think we all should "get involved" in order to make sure those in positions to do screwy things are acting from a position of knowledge about caching. But boy, if we turn Quicksilver into a miniature golf course there will be a backlash for sure. :-) (I placed a cache in Calero today - it seems a bit under-utilized. Let's spread the wealth a bit.)

Oh, @##@$. I asked my computer to show me May 2004. Guess I'm behind the times.... I'm betting that there would be plenty of pilgrims anytime in the days surrounding the anniversary, so it wouldn't matter so much.

Well, there you go ... make the trip Sat-Mon May 1-3 and you're set! It would be fun just to hang out for an hour or two Mecca to see how many people (from how many states...) showed up. Sounds like a great time! I've cached just a little bit up in Seattle, and would love to do more of it up in the northwest. VERY different than down here! A caravan could be a lot of fun - take along some inexpensive FRS radios to communicate from car to car and you're set! Everyone would have to have the same basic concepts about style (are you going for quality or quantity), and budget (are you camping or staying in motels, or ??). But it could be quite a time!

It would be nice to be at the Original Stash on 3 May, the 5th anniversary of Geocaching. (It's a Monday, which complicates matters a bit...)

I just wanted to thank WoW for another great event at the Workshop!

One word: Ebay.

Whoa, I just looked at the "something different". Freaky - geeky - kinda cheeky. I like it!

Had a GREAT weekend over here! I hadn't cached for 6 weeks - put in a hardwood floor in my house during much of that time - so I was *ready* to get out! Did 8 caches and hid 2 new ones. Nice weekend!

Reminds me of an old margerine commercial...but maybe that's just me...

Boulter has one that I've used very successfully. http://boulter.com/geocaching/maps/ ...Sam

Sorry you're sick - hope you get out there quick, especially while the weather holds! I had fun this w/e up at Santa Teresa County Park - went up to the summit of Coyote Peak, saw San Francisco through the binoculars again, always amazing from South San Jose! Got two caches and left a new one ("Doll House"), a minimalist wooden "doll house" based on the great collection of miniatures I won from Leggoes at the BADGES picnic. It looks a little different now than it did at the Little House of Horrors. <<Hurray, Two Hawks got ftf!>> ...Sam

I like that drive, too....but my passengers usually don't. Elaine drives more sensibly than I do, so if she drives when we go up there everyone usually makes it without turning green. lol

Yes, the Sierra Azul size has some amazing spots. My favorite is Bald Mountain 2. I sat up there for about an hour and looked around with binoculars. I was there on a clear day, and could easily see downtown San Francisco.

I see how to convert .Groundspeak gpx files into Keyhole .kml files, and am imagining that I'll write a converter. They're both just XML files, so it ought to be simple. That would let you run a pocket query then import the caches into Keyhole. Yep, I'll write a converter. Right away. Yep. Soon. Probably. Someday. Sigh. Time to go watch TV....

It certainly was! Thanks a lot to WoW for a great event! FYI, the 3-D mapping app I was showing at the event was called "keyhole" - www.keyhole.com. I've got no association with the company, but it sure is fun! ...Sam

Tevas? Hmm, when I started having trouble with foot pain I had to give UP sandals, including my Tevas. I was in increasing agony for a year, then finally went to a podiatrist who made some custom-fitted heel inserts for my shoes. After 3 months my pain was pretty much gone. Unfortunately I haven't worn sandals since...but it seems like a reasonable tradeoff. YMMV. ...Sam

You load coords in just the same as with EasyGPS. But once loaded in, you can then take a calibrated map and open it up, and you'll see the cache waypoints marked on the map. Ditto for aerial photos; ditto for USGS maps. It will download the appropriate photos and USGS maps automagically as you scroll around and zoom in and out. VERY cool, and very much worth downloading the trial version. I did, and bought it when the trial finishes. ...Sam

I'd love to attend a cache-making workshop! Hmm, it would be fun if everyone brought a couple of things along for show-and-tell, too.... I'm not QUITE sure why we're talking about rocket fuel....? In any case, I saw a great special on Discovery about Spaceship One, that just one the X-prize. ("Black Sky", tell your TiVo.) In any case, Spaceship One is fueled with rubber and hydrogen peroxide. ...Sam

I've done a couple with slip caps (one cap cemented on; the other one just stuck on as the opening). They seem to work well here. I always sand the opening-end down a bit so that the cap slides on and off relatively easily. In a wetter climate I can see needing a bit of a gasket. ...Sammydee

Just got back - had a super time! There were two groups of 6 or 7 people each...Elaine and I went up with the first group, then came down with the second. The flashing LED jewelry that we were wearing scared off the mountain lions, so we didn't lose anyone. :-) Thanks very much to Geowomyn for a super night! The weather was warm and still - very unusual but super. No smoke; visibility was great. Oddly, it was raining when we got home to South San Jose! Went afterwards to Assume Nothing #2, which was lots of fun, as all in the series are. Again, thanks very much! ....Sam